The War Behind the Wheel

I remember the moment I was introduced to Jacqueline Saburido. She is better known as Jacqui to her friends, in which she has many. Well, I suppose most would consider us acquaintances, as it is hard to be friends with someone who is dead. I met Jacqui through a video, telling her story from 1999. During this year, Jacqui was in a two car crash that killed all of the other passengers but herself and the driver of the other vehicle. It is hard to say whether I would consider Jacqui lucky or the opposite, and I may side with the latter. Jacqui was pinned in the car when it caught on fire, and for almost a minute was engulfed in flames, receiving second and third degree burns over 60% of her body. Doctors didn’t think that she would survive, but with 120 surgeries and a lifetime of disfigurement, she did. Ultimately, Jacqui died in Guatemala in 2019, while continuing to seek treatment for her condition for 20 years.

The day I met Jacqui I was 15 and a half years old, or coming up on that age. I only remember its specifics because 15 and a half is the age most people, including myself, take driver’s education classes. It was toward the end of the two day class when we entered the drunk driving portion of the lessons. Unbeknownst to me, I would be meeting Jacqui as well as the devastation and horror of drunk driving. Jacqui was an innocent passenger when she was hit by a drunk driver, and has stated that the accident “destroyed my life completely”. The video of this story could not have been any longer than 4 minutes, however I still remember every detail years later. The story of Jaqui was meant to scare everyone in the class to not drink and drive, and to be alert on the roads. Instead, the story made me feel like I had no control. Jacqui did everything right, she chose a safe ride home from a sober friend, she hadn’t been drinking herself, made smart decisions, and still she underwent such a terrible tragedy. I began to feel like no matter what we did, there would always be terrible accidents and incidents with drunk drivers.

To an extent, this ideology is true. We will never get rid of alcohol, recklessness, or distractions. We can, however, focus on ways to stop driving accidents from happening, even if we can’t do away with them completely. The first step to this is recognizing all of the dangers found on the road and behind the wheel. When I was 8 years old, my mom and I got into an accident ourselves. My mom rear ended a car at an intersection because she was looking at her phone instead of the light. Our accident, or rather hers, did not end in flames, death, and disfigurement, instead it ended in a wake up call and a second chance. Our car was totaled, and I remember my mom telling me she has never been more scared than watching my head full of hair get thrown forward when we crashed. We were lucky enough that no one was hurt, and all anyone lost was a car. However that crash made both me and my mom realize the true dangers of distracted driving. If we’re being honest that’s quite an exaggeration, I can’t speak for my mom but I didn’t think about that for 7 more years, when I started driving myself, and when I went to drivers education class before getting my license. The lessons they taught there resonated with me in a way I did not expect them too. With Jacqui in my mind, I passed my driving test and became the safest taxi my friends had ever had. I have always been a very cautious person and this naturally carried into my driving career. I know what is right and wrong, what is safe and unsafe. I don’t believe I could truthfully attest to others my age in this aspect and it is for this reason I understand driver’s education to be so important.

Aside from your initial teaching, I see the effectiveness and necessity for refresher lessons. Not just for teens and the elderly, but all ages. We live in a busy world where information goes in one ear and directly out the other. We also live in a world where we forget that adults can be unsafe drivers too, teenagers are not the only reckless people behind the wheel. It takes consistency and borderline annoying repetition to make a teenager—or busy adult—listen and remember what you are saying. By increasing these “refresher” courses and spoon feeding people bits of information about how to be a safer driver, we can significantly reduce the statistics and save lives.

As a driver, you are faced with a great responsibility, when behind the wheel you and you alone are in control of the choices you make. Will you be a safe or unsafe driver? Whenever I get in the car, the first thing I do is put on my seatbelt. It doesn’t matter if I am just going around the corner or down the street, I always buckle up. According to the CDC seatbelts reduce your risk of dying in a car accident by 45%, even if you are only going a short distance. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that most car accidents happen within 5 miles of your home. Once I’ve put my seatbelt on I make sure everyone in my car has their seatbelt on as well. My car, my rules. When you drive others, they become your responsibility, it’s your job to keep them safe. When thinking of driving accidents, it’s easy to think of all of the things out of our control, one thing you can control while driving is your speed. The national safety council says that speeding occurred in 29% of fatal crashes in 2022. By slowing down 10 mph, you double your chances of surviving a car accident. Driving is all about controlling what you can, and preparing for what you can’t.

Driving a vehicle is inherently dangerous, there is not much you can do to completely remove the danger. Although, there are many things we can do to lessen risks and drive safely for ourselves and others. 34,000 people die every year from driving accidents. That is an average of 93 people a day, which is 17 times the amount of people who died in the war in Afghanistan. 17 times the amount of people in 1/20th of the time. The roads are not a battlefield, driving should not be a war. We can bring peace to the “war behind the wheel” by making smart driving decisions and teaching others how to do the same.